Home Federal stronger, bank rating firm says

Bank ratings rose for Home Federal Bank of Hollywood but fell for Fort Lauderdale's Landmark Bank NA in the latest quarterly ratings released Thursday by bank rating group Bauer Financial.

Bauer found banks improved overall in Florida and nationwide in the fourth quarter compared to the year-ago period, but some institutions fared worse, receiving fewer stars.

Among South Florida-based banks, ratings fell for Fort Lauderdale's Landmark Bank, down from three to two stars; West Palm Beach-based Grand Bank and Trust of Florida, down from two to one star; and on Miami's US Century bank, down from one star to zero, the quarterly report said..

Ratings rose, however, for Miami's City National Bank of Florida, Total Bank and Espirito Santo Bank, all up from three to 3.5 stars; and Hallandale Beach's Home Federal Bank of Hollywood, up from zero to one, according to the report.

Coral Gables-based Bauer rates banks on a scale of one to five stars, with five the best. It

"recommends" banks with four or five stars and classifies those with two-stars or less as "troubled and problematic."

In the Dec. 31 quarter, Bauer recommended 18.6 percent of banks from Florida, up from 17.9 percent recommended a year earlier. It found 39.7 percent of banks from Florida troubled and problematic, down from 42.8 percent a year earlier.

That's a far weaker showing than the U.S. average, reflecting the weight of Florida's real estate slump and bad real estate loans on state banks.

Nationwide, Bauer recommended 60.1 percent of banks, up from 56.8 percent a year ago. It found 12.8 percent troubled and problematic, down from 13.7 percent a year earlier, the report said.